The traditional pickle process of Zhacai was thought unsafely and unstable, because of the high salt and
nitrite contents. The study has shown a method to solve these problems. One Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) strain,
Lactobacillus plantarum was used as starter in the low salt pickle process of Chinese Zhacai. The LAB inoculation
amounts were 2, 5, 8%, respectively and the group without LAB inoculation was set as the control. The inoculation
groups were added with 8% salt, while the control group 10%. The dynamic changes of physical and chemical
parameters of two groups were detected during the pickle process. The results showed that: pH value of the
inoculated groups declined rapidly, the lowest pH value was 3.61; the LAB became the predominant bacteria strains
during the pickle and the colony amounts of the inoculated groups could be up to 6.32 log10
cfu/mL; the nitrite content
of each group kept rising and the nitrite peaks of the inoculated groups appeared 3 days in advance, but the peak
values were nearly half of the control group; amino nitrogen contents were lower but finally higher than control
group and the highest value could reach 0.46 g/100 mL finally. Therefore, the inoculated groups with the lower salt
could be more safety and better flavor. This study provided important reference to optimize the pickle fermentation
process of Chinese Zhacai.